Abstract
To investigate the presence of auditory and nonauditory symptoms in professionals working in ambulances. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with a convenience sample. Thirty-six professionals working in mobile support units, including drivers and nursing technicians from two private urgency and emergency services in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, participated in the study. A questionnaire containing 17 multiple-choice questions was applied to the participants with questions regarding life history and occupation, family history of hearing loss, use of medications, and presence of auditory and nonauditory symptoms, among others. The professionals answered the questionnaire individually, in their workplaces, and received help from the researcher to understand the content of questions, if needed. Data were statistically analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 16.0. The most reported auditory symptoms were tinnitus, intolerance to intense sounds, and ear plenitude. The most reported nonauditory symptoms were irritability, headache, talking difficulties in noisy environments, and sleep alterations. A difference (p≤0.05) was observed when the relation between self-perception of drivers and nursing technicians on hearing acuity, presence of tinnitus, irritability, and communication difficulty was analyzed. Auditory and nonauditory symptoms are frequent in workers from mobile support units. An association between the worker's symptoms and the performed function was also observed. The results indicate a need of developing preventive actions regarding general health, which are aimed at the preservation of hearing health and quality of life of these professionals.
Highlights
One can find many stressor agents that will interfere in the professionals’ health and performance in the workplace
With regard to the model of ambulance, 19 (52.8%) employees worked in a Sprinter CDI 315 ambulance, 13 (36.1%) in a Ducato, and 4 (11.1%) in a Fiorino
With regard to occupational data, eight (22.2%) employees said that they had previously worked in a noisy place and three (8.3%) reported feeling indisposed after a workday
Summary
One can find many stressor agents that will interfere in the professionals’ health and performance in the workplace. These agents may be physical, chemical, or organizational. We can highlight noise, heat, vibrations, pressures, and radiations, whereas the chemicals include smoking, dust, gases, and vapor. All agents change the body functioning and sleep, increase sensitivity to environmental stressor agents, and increase the risk of work accidents. When combined, these stressor agents may have a series of effects on health, influencing the attention skills and decreasing performance in both intellectual and physical activities[1,2]
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